Who Wears What in FBS? 2019 edition
It was a quiet year in the FBS apparel wars. So quiet, in fact, that unless I'm missing someone, not a single FBS school announced a change from one provider to another. In fact, even the intra-provider changes have stopped, as the number of schools wearing Nike subsidiary Jordan Brand has stopped at four.
Perhaps the biggest news on this front came in early September, when Nike announced Colin Kaepernick as a brand ambassador. Lots of people were really, really mad at the time... and pretty much all of them have forgotten about it. None of the Swoosh's 69 partners jumped ship and, according to the numbers, neither did their investors. Nike's stock price sits at $89.48 as of this writing, compared to $81.25 on Aug. 31, 2018.
Given the lack of news, let's rehash part of last year's writeup, which does a good job explaining Nike, Adidas and Under Armour's respective strategies.
Examine each conference and you'll see a clear pattern emerge. Adidas is an aggressive bargain shopper; the Three Stripes matches Nike's 27 Group of 5 contracts, and owns 20 of the 36 available contracts in Conference USA, the MAC and the Sun Belt. At the Power 5 level, Adidas mirrors Under Armour, owning a presence in every corner of the country, but not much more than that. Poaching Washington from Nike, for instance, gives Adidas one Pac-12 North school, matching its one Pac-12 South school, Arizona State.
Oh, there was one change.
Finally, someone has busted Nike's monopoly on the College Football Playoff. Five years into the system, Notre Dame (Under Armour) became the first non-Swoosh team to reach the final four. (The Irish lost to Clemson, 30-3.)
Now in its sixth year, behold FootballScoop's annual survey of Who Wears What in FBS.
Total FBS Breakdown
Nike - 69 (53.1%)
Adidas - 39 (30%)
Under Armour - 22 (16.9%)
Power 5 Breakdown
Nike - 42 (64.6%)
Adidas - 12 (18.5%)
Under Armour - 11 (16.9%)
Group of 5 Breakdown
Nike - 27 (41.5%)
Adidas - 27 (41.5%)
Under Armour - 11 (16.9%)
American
Central Florida - Nike
Cincinnati - Under Armour
Connecticut - Nike
East Carolina - Adidas
Houston - Nike
Memphis - Nike
Navy - Under Armour
South Florida - Adidas
SMU - Nike
Temple - Under Armour
Tulane - Nike
Tulsa - Adidas
BREAKDOWN: Nike 6 (50%), Adidas 3 (25%), Under Armour 3 (25%)
ACC
Boston College – Under Armour
Clemson – Nike
Duke – Nike
Florida State – Nike
Georgia Tech – Adidas
Louisville – Adidas
Miami – Adidas
North Carolina – Nike (Jordan Brand)
NC State – Adidas
Pittsburgh – Nike
Syracuse – Nike
Virginia – Nike
Virginia Tech – Nike
Wake Forest – Nike
BREAKDOWN: Nike 9 (64.3%), Adidas 4 (28.6%), Under Armour 1 (7.1%)
Big Ten
Illinois – Nike
Indiana – Adidas
Iowa – Nike
Maryland – Under Armour
Michigan – Nike (Jordan Brand)
Michigan State – Nike
Minnesota – Nike
Nebraska – Adidas
Northwestern – Under Armour
Ohio State – Nike
Penn State – Nike
Purdue – Nike
Rutgers – Adidas
Wisconsin – Under Armour
BREAKDOWN: Nike 8 (57.1%), Adidas 3 (21.4%), Under Armour 3 (21.4%)
Big 12
Baylor – Nike
Iowa State – Nike
Kansas – Adidas
Kansas State – Nike
Oklahoma – Nike (Jordan Brand)
Oklahoma State – Nike
Texas �� Nike
TCU – Nike
Texas Tech – Under Armour
West Virginia – Nike
BREAKDOWN: Nike 8 (80%), Adidas 1 (10%), Under Armour 1 (10%)
Conference USA
Charlotte - Nike
Florida Atlantic - Adidas
Florida International - Adidas
Louisiana Tech - Adidas
Marshall - Nike
Middle Tennessee - Nike
North Texas - Nike
Old Dominion - Under Armour
Rice - Adidas
Southern Miss - Adidas
UAB - Under Armour
UTEP - Nike
UTSA - Adidas
Western Kentucky - Nike
BREAKDOWN: Adidas 6 (42.9%), Nike 6 (42.9%), Under Armour 2 (14.3%)
Independents
Army - Nike
BYU - Nike
Liberty - Nike
Massachusetts - Adidas
New Mexico State - Under Armour
Notre Dame - Under Armour
BREAKDOWN: Nike 3 (50%), Under Armour 2 (33.3%), Adidas 1 (16.7%)
MAC
Akron - Adidas
Ball State - Nike
Bowling Green - Nike
Buffalo - Nike
Central Michigan - Adidas
Eastern Michigan - Adidas
Kent State - Under Armour
Miami (Ohio) - Adidas
Northern Illinois - Adidas
Ohio - Adidas
Toledo - Nike
Western Michigan - Adidas
BREAKDOWN: Adidas 7 (58.3%), Nike 4 (33.3%), Under Armour 1 (8.3%)
Mountain West
Air Force - Nike
Boise State - Nike
Colorado State - Under Armour
Fresno State - Nike
Hawai'i - Under Armour
Nevada - Adidas
New Mexico - Nike
San Diego State - Nike
San Jose State - Adidas
UNLV - Nike
Utah State - Nike
Wyoming - Adidas
BREAKDOWN: Nike 7 (58.3%), Adidas 3 (25%), Under Armour 2 (16.7%)
Pac-12
Arizona – Nike
Arizona State – Adidas
California – Under Armour
Colorado – Nike
Oregon – Nike
Oregon State – Nike
Stanford – Nike
UCLA – Under Armour
USC – Nike
Utah – Under Armour
Washington – Adidas
Washington State – Nike
BREAKDOWN: Nike 7 (58.3%), Under Armour 3 (25%), Adidas 2 (16.7%)
SEC
Alabama – Nike
Arkansas – Nike
Auburn – Under Armour
Florida – Nike (Jordan Brand)
Georgia – Nike
Kentucky – Nike
LSU – Nike
Mississippi State – Adidas
Missouri – Nike
Ole Miss – Nike
South Carolina – Under Armour
Tennessee – Nike
Texas A&M – Adidas
Vanderbilt – Nike
BREAKDOWN: Nike 10 (71.4%), Adidas 2 (14.3%), Under Armour 2 (14.3%)
Sun Belt
Appalachian State - Nike
Arkansas State - Adidas
Coastal Carolina - Under Armour
Georgia Southern - Adidas
Georgia State - Under Armour
Louisiana-Lafayette - Adidas
Louisiana-Monroe - Adidas
South Alabama - Adidas
Texas State - Adidas
Troy - Adidas
BREAKDOWN: Adidas 7 (70%), Under Armour 2 (20%), Nike 1 (10%)
Did we miss anything? Let us know @zach_barnett on Twitter.
